Team UV

Redefining the classical concept of an underwater vehicle.

  • Home
  • About
  • Member Bios
  • Contact/FAQ
  • Sponsors & Donations

A Day as a Middle School STEM Teacher

Posted by Andrew (Team UV) on June 14, 2015
Posted in: Open Mind. Tagged: Education, Electromechanical Engineering, Engineering, Fun, Math, Mechanical Engineering, Open Mind, Science, STEM, Team UV, Technology.

Photo Credit: tiesteach.org

As many of you are aware, we are in the transitioning phase of this website as we close out TeamUV.org and transition to EngineeringAFuture.com over the next two months, so this will be Andrew’s last Open Mind post here at Team UV, but not to fear, there are still two months of posts left here and the same types of articles will be carried over onto EAF (Engineering A Future), so without further ado, please enjoy the following:

Last week, I had one of the best educational experiences of my life: a whole day of teaching 6th graders about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)!  My lovely girlfriend is a 6th grade, Math and Science teacher and was constantly asked by her students as to when I would visit her class.  With the build of DORY in full swing and wrapping up my undergraduate degree, I just couldn’t make time for a visit during the school year.  In the last few months, my interest in teaching has grown, especially teaching about science, technology, and engineering.  I knew I would take the opportunity to speak to her kiddos the first chance I could get.

sel balancer gif

A self-balancing wing my controls team made for class.

My girlfriend and I made plans for me to visit the second to last day of their school year.  Her kids and I couldn’t be more excited.  I made a presentation about STEM and how it applies to our everyday lives.  I appealed to their interests by highlighting: famous people and how they use technology, popular electronics and how they wouldn’t be around without STEM, and popular social apps and how they came to existence using STEM.  I also showed them famous celebrity engineers such as Ashton Kutcher, Rowan Atkinson, and Michael Gambon.  I then continued to show them projects I worked on in my undergrad such as an obstacle avoiding cart and DORY, as well as a live demonstration of a self-balancing wing.  They had so many questions with some that showed real engineering intuition.  Seeing the excitement in their eyes and the “light bulbs” turn on was a fulfilling moment for me.

Homopolar Motor. Photo Credit: yourepeat.com

At the end of my presentation, I gave them a little background on electrical motors and brought materials to help them make their first simple motor.  With a couple of magnets, a battery, copper wire, and a bit of patience they all made a homopolar motor.  One team even had their motor spin for 14 minutes before the wire fell off.  We even had time to make paper bridges which turned into a very competitive activity!

Paper bridge. Photo Credit: tallbridgeguy.com

Although the day was filled with laughter and excitement, it didn’t come easy!  Often times we (meaning my girlfriend!) would have to correct the kids when they would get too roudy or speak out of turn.  By the end of the day, we were both so exhausted.  I have a new appreciation for middle school teachers and am glad I had the chance to try out the position.  It is one difficult career!  Teaching 11 year olds may not be in my future, but teaching STEM classes could definitely be!

Until next time…

Share:

  • Tweet
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pocket

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posts navigation

← How to Build Your First Motor
Finding Friction →
  • Project SymposiumMay 29, 2015
    The big day is here.
  • Fundraising!

    GoFundMe.com/TeamUV
  • Social Media

    • Team UV Facebook
    • Team UV Instagram
    • Team UV Twitter
  • Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

  • Tags

    3D Printing 3rd World 4D Printing 9/11 Acoustics Aerodynamics Aerospace Aerospace Engineering Air Force Airplanes Always Remember America Animals Apparel Arduino Armed Forces Army Art Automotive Ballet Battery Beach Beer Biochemistry Biology Biomedical Engineering Biomimetics Biomimicry Blog Brave Bugs Cancer Cancer Cure Car Cars CFD Challenge Chemical Engineering Chemistry Christmas Christmas Tree Christmas Tree Hairspray Climate Clothing Coast Guard Coatings Color Community Company Competition Computer Computer Programming Conference Control Systems Cosmetics Courage Crazy Creativity Creature Cure Current Cycle Damage Dance Defense Desert Design Diagnosis Disaster Dive Diving DIY Donations Door Locks Drone Drones Dynamics EAF Earthquake Education Electrical Engineering Electrochemistry Electromechanical Engineering Electronics Energy Engineering Engineering A Future Engineering Feats Entertainment Environment Everyday Exploration Explore Explosions Facility Farm Fire Fireworks Fish Fishing Flight Flood Flow Fluid Mechanics Flying Food Fossil Fuels Freedom Fun Fundraising Gears Go Fund Me GoFundMe Hairspray Health Heat Transfer History Holidays Home Hope Hubble Space Telescope Impact Innovate Innovation Insects ISR Jumping LED Light List Locks Machine Design Maintenance Makeup Manufacturing Marine Marine Corps Materials Engineering Materials Science Math Mathematics Mechanical Engineering Mechanics of Materials Mechanism Media Medical Military Mindset Momentum Movies Museum Music Nature Naval Naval Engineering Navy Never forget Nuclear Ocean Office Office Wars One Open Mind Optics Outreach Owl Patriot Patriot Day Photos Polymer Polymers Poverty Power Power Generation Power Plant Presentation Printing Problem Solving Programming Propellers Rail Gun Research Resilient Ride Robotics Robots Rocket Science Roller Coasters Running SCCUR School Science Senior Project September 11th Service Members Shark Ships Simple Simple but Complex Design Small Business Smart Phone Snakes Solar Energy SONAR Space Space Telescope Special Effects Spirirts Sponge Filled Syringe Sponsor Sports Stability Stealth STEM Stress Analysis Strong Submarine Suit Support Our Troops Sustainability Swimming Syringe Team Team UV Technology Textiles Thank You Thermodynamics Top 10 Engineering Feats 2014 Travel Troubleshooting Electronics Turbulence UAV Underwater Coating UUV Venom Veterans Veterans Day Vibration Wakeboard Wakeboarding Water Water Purification Water Sports Waves Welcome Well Read Wind Wind Turbine Wine
  • Archives

    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
  • Categories

    • Blog
    • Open Mind
    • Presentations
    • Well Read
  • Authors

  • Team UV Timezone: GMT -7 Hours
    24 Hour World Clock
Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
%d bloggers like this: